RAILforum: Amtrak ridership remains strong in wake of last week's attacks

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Posted by Trainsandmore (Member # 896) on :

The trainsmag.com just reported that With the airlines still struggling in the aftermath of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks, Amtrak ridership in the Mail and Express Shipments remained strong today and over the weekened.

But with more aircraft flying and companies cutting back on travel, there were signs of a slight easing in the number of sold-out long-distance trains.

Nonetheless, daily ridership continued to hover around the 80,000 mark compared to the normal of 60,000 passengers per day in September, Amtrak Spokeswomen said.

And bookings are expected to run well above normal for at least the next five to seven days, said Kathleen Cantillon, a spokeswoman for Amtrak Intercity.

The Empire Builder, Texas Eagle, Capitol Limited, and Boston Section of the Lake Shore Limited were nearly sold out today, Cantillon said. Amtrak was expecting that the Eastern trains could sell out by their departure times thanks to brisk walk-up business, she added.

Trains continued to operate with additional cars, where possible.

Amtrak was still honoring with airline tickets today-the paper kind, not e-tickets-and no decision had been made as to how long the railroad would continue to do so, said Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Van Veen.

Amtrak's revenue is up along with its Passenger counts. In a normal week, Amtrak Intercity generates about $1 million. But Last week it brought in $4 million, as ridership surged more than 60 percent.

With air traffic grounded or limited, and mail barred from commercial flights, Amtrak has been handling a third more business for the U.S. Postal Service, a source in Amtrak's Mail and Express group said. From Wednesday through Sunday, the railroad hauled an additional 170 carloads of mail as it made its entire network available to the Postal Service, the source said.

"We don't expect to keep this business because it's first class and priority, which is beyond even the service standards we can provide," the source said, noting that Mail and Express's postal network is geared toward periodicals. But Amtrak created a lot a goodwill in the Postal Service by offering it the use of the entire Mail and Express fleet.

Whether that will translate into more business down the road remains to be seen. Also unclear is what lasting effect-if any-the hijackings and beef up airport security will have on Amtrak.

Many travlers filling Amtrak seats last week were first-timers forced onto the rails by diverted flights. Will they consider riding Amtrak in the future?

After the launch the Acela Express last year, major newspapers along the Northeast corridor staged races among reporters traveling aboard the 150-mph trains, driving,and boarding airplanes. In those "races," the Acela Express was always time-competitive. But if airport security delays continue,that would tilt transit time firmly in favor of Amtrak. Will that translate into increased ridership?

And, finally, many airlines have announced that they will curtail service in response to reduced demand and new security measures. Presumably travel will return to normal levels at some point. But if flights remained curtailed, if and when travel demands returns to pre-September 11 levels,will people turn to Amtrak as an alternative to flying?

No one has the answer now. But Amtrak President and CEO George Warrington said last week that the railroad will continued to help get Americans to where they want to go.

"no one has escaped the sorrow and grief of the Past week. Like all Americans, the Amtrak family of employees is enormously saddened by the horror fo the tragedies in New York City and Washington, D.C.," he said "But, also like all Americans, we are ready to help."

Well guys what do you think.

Posted by Eric (Member # 674) on :

I hope that after last Tuesday's events, our members of Congress will open their eyes and see that a national passenger railroad is a must for America, and provide increased and stable funding for the years to come. If Congress plans to bailout the airlines with $15 billion (?), they should forget about the "self-sufficiency" BS, and provide as best an alternative to flying and driving as possible. Start with the $71 billion high-speed rail bill, gas tax, and bonds, and work from there.

Posted by Judy (Member # 942) on :

I was encouraged riding the Empire Builder from Minneapolis to Milwaukee last weekend that several people remarked that they had enjoyed their ride (even in coach for more than 24 hours) and would definitely consider taking the train again. They cited the ability to move around more and the more relaxed feeling of train travel. The only fly in the ointment I could see was that the dining car capacity was almost 100% subscribed by the sleeper passengers leaving no chance for coach passengers to try that fantastic food I've had on the Empire Builder on past trips. And on the last meal that day, the annoucement was made that the choices were extrememly limited - due no doubt to sell-out on previous days and apparently no mechanism to restock. It was my opinion that a second diner could have done a booming business had it been available! A mother with a toddler expressed a wish for a place for kids to play, and when I told her about the kiddie car on the Coast Starlight she wished fervently that other trains had them, also.

Posted by yummykaz (Member # 475) on :

As I watch the airlines beg for money, I hope that the people in control of Amtraks subsidies remember Amtrak.

This week has proven that we need alternative forms of travel. The talk of airlines going bankrupt and becoming government controlled.... The airlines were having trouble long before this.

These are such sad and tragic times that talking about trains seems stupid.

But, I hope that the first time riders had a pleasant trip and realize why we must keep the rails and cars open.

There was another question about security on trains. Every time I have been on the train, the security is non exisistent. I always am worried about my camcorder or laptop etc. that I leave in my sleeping car. My brother asked me about that and I told him it seems worthless to hijack a train that travels in the middle of no where going 40 miles an hour. Does not make for good headlines that the scumbag terrorists want. But I do worry about these terrorists riding the rails or jumping on a moving train.

We were worried when the "railcar" killer was killing people up and down the tracks. Now we got these sub humans to worry about.

I hope Amtrak shines during this crisis and keeps it's employees motivated to service customers and alert authorities to suspicions.